


She

by localspacelesbian



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, F/F, gay pining, kind of a rewrite of the last half of season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:42:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22974193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/localspacelesbian/pseuds/localspacelesbian
Summary: Andi honestly wasn’t entirely sure how she managed to convince her parents to drop her off at Buffy’s house and go back to their date instead of taking her home, but she decided it was better not to question it. The look on Buffy’s face when she opened the door made everything that had happened that night worth it.-basically, i added and rewrote some scenes from season 3 to turn it into the Bandi Pining we deserved, starting with 308 and going through the finale
Relationships: Buffy Driscoll & Cyrus Goodman, Buffy Driscoll & Marty, Buffy Driscoll & T. J. Kippen, Buffy Driscoll/Andi Mack, Cyrus Goodman & Andi Mack, Cyrus Goodman/T. J. Kippen - background
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	She

Andi honestly wasn’t entirely sure how she managed to convince her parents to drop her off at Buffy’s house and go back to their date instead of taking her home, but she decided it was better not to question it. The look on Buffy’s face when she opened the door made everything that had happened that night worth it. The two of them spent hours dancing along to their favorite movies and eating popcorn. It felt as though the drama of the previous few weeks simply faded away, and it was just the two of them having fun like old times. They even still knew all of the choreography by heart.

Eventually, they got tired of dancing and collapsed onto the couch next to each other, their heads leaning against each other. Andi grabbed the remote and turned the volume on the tv down, so they could hear each other. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For going to that dumb high school party without you.”

Buffy held her hand. “You’re allowed to have other friends, Andi.” She looked down. “Besides, I’m the one who ditched you for Walker first. I should have known you’d feel weird about it.”

Andi shook her head. “I told you I was fine with it. That’s on me. And I wanted to be fine with it, and I guess I just hoped if I pretended hard enough, I would be. But I really am happy for you. I mean, you have your first boyfriend. You should be able to talk to me about it.”

Buffy smiled. “Well, I don’t know if he’s my  _ boyfriend _ .”

“What do you mean?”

“We haven’t actually used that word yet.”

“Oh. Do you want to?”

“I don’t know. It kind of feels like a lot, you know? God, I sound like Jonah, don’t I?”

Andi shook her head. “The problem with Jonah not wanting to use the word boyfriend was that I did. As long as you and Walker are on the same page, that’s what matters. He makes you happy, right?”

Buffy nodded and smiled. “He does.”

“Then, I’m happy for you.” Andi tried to ignore the pain in her chest and the way it felt like she was lying as she hugged her best friend.

They went into Buffy’s bedroom to change into pajamas. Andi hadn’t brought her own, so she had to borrow Buffy’s. She did her best to ignore how the smell of Buffy’s clothes made her slightly dizzy and how she suddenly felt self-conscious changing in front of Buffy, which was absolutely ridiculous. They had been friends for years; it’s not like it was the first time they had changed in front of each other.  _ Whatever _ . Andi pushed those thoughts away as the two of them went back out into the living room to finish watching their movies.

Andi didn’t remember falling asleep, but when she woke up, there was a person behind her with their arm around her and a blanket covering both of them that she was pretty sure hadn’t been there before. She and Buffy were cuddling. When had that happened? And why was she surprised? This happened almost every time they had a sleepover. So, why did it feel different this time? Why was her heart beating so fast? She hadn’t felt like this since…

_ Oh. _

_ Oh no. _

She felt Buffy moving behind her, so she turned around so she was facing her. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw Buffy’s sleepy face. “Hi.”

Buffy smiled back. “Do you smell that?”

The both inhaled deeply. They grinned at each other and said simultaneously, “Pancakes!” Andi pushed her previous thoughts away in favor of Buffy’s dad’s famous chocolate chip pancakes as the two of them nearly fell off the couch in their rush to get to the kitchen.

After they ate, Andi helped Buffy get ready for her date with Walker, which was only slightly painful. When Buffy’s mom gave her a ride home, she accidentally took her to Cece’s, and Andi decided not to correct her; she could use a good Craft & Cry session in Andi Shack right about now. She texted her mom to tell her where she was, and then decided to text Cyrus as well to ask him to come over because, on second thought, she really didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts right now.

She was absentmindedly working on a bracelet that she refused to admit was for Buffy when she heard a knock on the door. She barely even looked up as she told Cyrus to come in.

He sat on the couch next to her. “Are you ok?”

At those words, it was like whatever had been barely holding her together broke, and she just fell apart. She started crying, and she couldn’t speak. She just shook her head and gratefully accepted his offered hug. They stayed like that for who knows how long until she felt like she could get some words out and pulled away from him.

“Buffy’s on a date with Walker right now.”

“Oh. Are things still weird with you three?”

Andi shrugged. “For a second I thought maybe I could be fine with it, but… is this… Is this how you felt when I was with Jonah?”

“Yeah…”

“God, Cyrus. I’m so sorry. This feels awful. How do you not hate me?”

Cyrus shook his head and held her hands. “I could never hate you, Andi. You’re my best friend. You couldn’t control how you felt about Jonah any more than I could. And I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. Besides, I’m over him now.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Clearly.”

She shook her head. “But… I don’t like Walker, not like that anyway.”

Cyrus looked confused. “What do you mean?”

She took a deep breath. “That’s not why I feel weird about Buffy and Walker. I don’t like him.” He still looked confused. He wasn’t getting it.  _ Come on, Mack. You can do this. It’s Cyrus. _ She took another deep breath and looked him in the eye. “I… I think I like Buffy.”

She watched as he realized what she meant. She briefly wondered if she’s had that same look on her face when he had come out to her. His look of realization quickly turned into a smile. He squeezed her hands. “Andi…”

She held up one of her hands in a small wave. “Hi.”

He laughed and pulled her in for another hug, this one much happier than the last. When they pulled back, they were both smiling at each other. “I am so happy for you. And so proud of you. And also, selfishly, so glad that I’m not alone anymore.”

“I’m glad I’m not alone, too” She looked down at the bracelet still sitting half-finished in her lap, and the smile faded slightly from her face. “But what do I do about Buffy? I really want to be happy for her and Walker, but it hurts so much. How did you deal with that?”

“Mostly by complaining to Buffy about it and otherwise suffering in silence until the crush faded.”

“But what if this crush doesn’t fade? I mean, it already feels like way stronger than how I felt about Jonah, and I only realized that it was there this morning.”

“I don’t know. I’ve only had the one crush, so I don’t have much to go on, but if you ever need someone to vent to, I’m always here. And who knows? Maybe things will work out better for you than they did for me?”

Andi shook her head. “I doubt it. But thanks.” She tossed the bracelet onto the table across the room and wiped her tears away. “But enough about me and Buffy. What’s new with you? You said you resolved some kind of feud between TJ and Jonah? What was that about?”

Andi happily listened as Cyrus recounted the events of the past few days. Eventually, Cyrus had to go home, but she stayed there; she had an idea. First, she made a rainbow bracelet for Cyrus. Then, after spending much longer than she expected to doing some research on her phone, she decided on making a pink, yellow, and blue one for herself.

As she eventually left Andi Shack, she looked back at the bracelet she had been making for Buffy that was still sitting on the table. She decided she’d deal with that later. She turned off the light and closed the door, locking it behind her.

When she got home, she put the two finished bracelets on her dresser. She noticed the invitation Buffy had made her for the Dance Dance Film Festival. After a moment’s hesitation, she picked it up and put it in her memory box for safekeeping.

* * *

“Will you go to fall formal with me?”

“No.”

Buffy turned and walked away, trying to ignore the way Walker’s face fell, all of her friends’ faces, really. She didn’t pay much attention to where she was going. She just had to get out of there. She had hated the whole ‘Secret Society’ thing from the beginning, and the fact that it had all been a stupid ‘promposal’ all along just made it worse. She thought her friends knew her better than that. Walker, she got. It made sense that he wouldn’t know that she wouldn’t like something like that. After all, they hadn’t really known each other for very long. And after he had made her those shoes, she had been thinking about breaking up with him anyway. It’s not like the shoes were _ bad _ exactly. It was just that they reminded her of Andi. And how much better of a couple Walker and Andi would make. She wasn’t entirely sure why that upset her so much. She didn’t even like Walker that much really. She wasn’t even that upset about breaking up with him. No, she was upset that somehow, her friends, her  _ best _ friends, thought it would be a good idea to lie to her for a week and then set her up for some big embarrassing stupid romantic gesture that was really more suited for someone like Andi than for someone like her.

Somehow, she ended up at the park. She saw TJ on the basketball court shooting hoops. Alone. She walked up to him and set her stuff on the bench. “Mind if I join you?”

He glanced over at her and wordlessly passed her the ball. See, that’s what she liked about TJ. They didn’t always need words to communicate. Andi and Cyrus always wanted to talk about ‘feelings.’ And as much as she loved her two best friends, that wasn’t always what she wanted. Sometimes, she just wanted to silently play basketball in the park with someone who understood her. Even if he didn’t really understand what she was going through at this specific moment. Not that she even really understood it herself. But she could process it on her own without actually being alone.

As the two of them played basketball, Buffy’s mind kept running through what had just happened. She didn’t really understand why she was upset. Or maybe she did? She couldn’t believe that her friends apparently didn’t know her at all. Ok, Jonah was kind of oblivious, so it made sense that he would have just gone along with it. And Cyrus, while he was supposed to be the one who knew her the best, was a hopeless romantic, so it made sense that he might have gotten caught up in the whole thing. Especially since he was clearly ecstatic about being ‘chosen’ first for the ‘secret society.’ And he probably thought she would say yes. After all, he had been the first one to know that she had a crush on Walker in the first place. And she hadn’t exactly told him that she was planning on breaking up with him.

For some reason, the fact Andi had gone along with it hurt the most. No matter how much she tried to justify it with the same excuses she had given Cyrus, it just hurt. And maybe it was just another thing added to their already strained relationship, given the past few weeks. But maybe that was why Andi had done it: to show that she was supportive of her relationship with Walker. Why did that not comfort Buffy in the slightest?

As she watched TJ make a basket, her thoughts turned to him. She thought about how much he had changed over the past few months. Because of Cyrus. And even when TJ had been a jerk, he had never been mean to Cyrus.

No matter how angry Buffy was, she could never bring herself to be mean to Andi. Even when they fought. Even when she had been trying to push her friends away right before she had moved. The idea of saying anything mean to Andi just felt so wrong.

She thought about how things had been between them over the past few weeks. Had it really been all over a boy? Were they really  _ those _ girls? Neither of them even really liked Walker that much? Right? And it wasn’t like Andi had had a hard time replacing her with Amber-  _ Oh _ . Maybe that was why she was upset. Amber. The girl who had somehow wormed her way into their friend group. Buffy still didn’t really like her that much. But Andi did. No matter how much Amber hurt Andi, Andi kept forgiving her. When she abandoned her on top of a ferris wheel. When she took her to a high school party and got her in trouble. Every time. Just like Cyrus kept forgiving TJ-  _ Oh _ . Why did that comparison hurt so much?

Buffy threw the ball and watched it swish into the basket. TJ started to run over to grab the ball. “I think I might be gay.” She wasn’t entirely sure where that came from or why she chose that moment to break the silence, but as soon as she said it, it felt right.

TJ froze for a second before continuing. He picked up the ball and dribbled back toward her. He threw it, and they both watched it fall through the hoop again. “Me too.”

And that was it. As they kept playing, Buffy felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she was pretty sure TJ could feel it too. They both smiled more as they continued their game. They didn’t bother to keep score. And they didn’t say anything else. They didn’t need to.

* * *

_ “Hey, the last time we saw each other, I didn’t exactly handle things very well. Could we please meet up?” _

_ “Yeah, we could do that.” _

Buffy sat in a booth at The Spoon. It was the only two-person booth in the diner, the same one where Cyrus had come out to her. That seemed fitting. Not that she was planning on coming out today. She still hadn’t quite figured things out yet. But Cyrus had been right. She couldn’t just ghost Walker. She had to talk to him. She remembered what it felt like to be ghosted. She couldn’t do that to someone else. She made sure to have him meet her on a day when all her friends were busy and she knew Amber wasn’t working. She tried not to think about the fact that Andi and Amber were probably hanging out together right now.

The bell above the door rang, and she looked over to see Walker walking toward her with a smile on his face. How did he always manage to have a smile on his face? He was almost as bad as Jonah. She gave him a small wave, which he returned before sitting down.

“So, you wanted to talk?”

She nodded. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.” She hated saying those words, but she was trying to get better at it. He raised his eyebrows at her. “I shouldn’t have just ghosted you after the whole promposal thing.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, that was not great. But I got the message. You don’t like me.” He gave her a sad smile, which made Buffy hate herself. See, this is why she didn’t want to do this in person. Because she didn’t want to see that look on his face. But she had to. He deserved some sort of explanation.

She shook her head. “Sorry. I like you, just not like that.” He nodded. “We just don’t really have a lot in common, you know? Like, the shoes, the promposal, that’s not really… me.”

He nodded again. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just. Maybe you should be with someone like Andi, who would actually appreciate that kind of stuff.” It physically pained her to say that.

He laughed. “I don’t think Andi likes me anymore either. Besides, I really don’t want to come between you two again.”

She nodded. “Right. Sorry.”

He shook his head. “It’s fine.”

“It kind of sucks that this is happening just when Andi was getting used to being around you. And I do still really like having you as a friend. I think we all do, honestly. You’re, like, really cool.”

They smiled at each other. “Is this an invitation to join the good hair crew?” he joked.

She pretended to think for a second. “Not quite. But friends?”

He nodded. “Yeah, friends.”

Buffy flagged down a waitress and ordered them some baby taters, offering to pay for them as a sort of peace offering.

“You know, with your whole ‘good hair crew’ thing, is it really that much of a stretch that I thought you’d like the ‘secret society’ thing?”

She snorted and shook her head. “ _ We _ don’t have secret meetings in the school basement where we wear robes and light candles.”

He smiled. “Uh huh… that’s exactly what someone in a cult would say.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes at him. The two of them caught up while they waited for their baby taters to arrive. When they got their, the lapsed into a silence while they ate, and Buffy’s mind started to wander a bit.

“Hello? Earth to Buffy.” Buffy shook herself out of her thoughts and turned back to Walker. “You ok?” She nodded and popped a baby tater in her mouth. He gave her a disbelieving look.

She sighed. “I don’t know. I guess this whole thing is just kind of reminding me of another relationship I screwed up.” She shook her head. “But you probably don’t want to hear about that.”

He smiled at her and shook his head. “Hey, it’s fine. What are friends for?” She smiled at him. How come Walker was completely fine with being friends but Marty hadn’t been?

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “Yeah, go ahead.”

“It’s kind of a long story.”

“We still have plenty of baby taters left.”

She exhaled quickly out her nose and smiled. “Ok, so basically there was this guy…” He nodded. “And we were friends. And then he told me he liked me, but I didn’t like him back. And then he just ghosted me. And he hasn’t talked to me since.” He nodded. She laughed sadly. “I guess it’s not really that long of a story.”

He laughed and shrugged. “I guess not.” He ate a baby tater. “So, do you still not like him?”

She shook her head. “I definitely don’t. But I miss him. And if I try to tell Andi and Cyrus that, they’ll assume that I like him. Just like they always assumed that I liked him.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “It’s fine.” She sighed. “But what should I do? I feel like I’ve just been waiting for him to be the one to reach out to me because he’s the one who stopped talking to me, and I was kind of hoping that he just needed some time and then we could go back to normal. But it’s been almost a year.”

“And he hasn’t talked to you at all?”

She shook her head. “He did put a note in the time capsule my friends made for me when I moved. But that’s it.” She ate another baby tater. “And he has a girlfriend now, so he’s gotta be over me, right? But I don’t want him to be like completely over me. I still want to be his friend.”

“Maybe you should call him.”

“Should I?”

He nodded. “You miss him, right?” She nodded. “Then, what’s the worst that could happen? Either he doesn’t want to be your friend and things stay exactly the same as the are right now, or he does want to be your friend.”

Buffy nodded slowly. He did have a good point. Even if he didn’t want to be her friend again, knowing had to be better than not knowing, right?

* * *

Cyrus noticed Andi’s face fall slightly when Buffy mentioned that she had been texting Marty. He almost thought he was imagining it, what with how quickly the look disappeared as she joked about how Buffy had missed him, but he knew it was there. At the first opportunity to get her alone, he practically dragged her back outside.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” He just raised an eyebrow at her. She had never been a very good liar. She sighed. “Ok, so maybe I thought when she broke up with Walker that maybe I’d actually have a chance, and now that hope has been viciously crushed right in front of me.” He hugged her. She sighed. “How am I supposed to go through this again?”

“You’ll be ok. I promise.”

She shook her head. “It’s gonna be even worse this time. At least with Walker, things always seemed kind of off, but she and Marty are like perfect for each other. And I really want to be happy for her, but it just hurts so much.”

He held her hands. “She and Marty aren’t even dating. They’re just talking. And he has a girlfriend, remember.”

“Yeah, but come on. They’re Buffy and Marty. You know it’s only a matter of time.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know that. And neither you do. It doesn’t do any good to get so worked up about something that might not even happen.” He could feel the hypocrisy in his words. Getting worked up about things that might not even happen was basically his entire personality. But it seemed to be what she needed to hear because she nodded and took a deep breath.

“Ok fine. But I’m not gonna get my hopes up again.” He nodded. He knew he probably shouldn’t try to get her hopes up when he honestly had no idea whether or not she had a chance with Buffy. “And I’m sorry. Today is supposed to be about comforting you, and here you are comforting me.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Being there for my friends always makes me feel better.” She smiled, and he put his arm around her. “You’ll be ok.”

“Thanks, Cyrus. Honestly, I don’t know what any of us would do without you.”

“It’s just another service I provide. Now come on, let’s go see what our hopelessly straight basketball captains are up to.” He started leading her to the door.

“How is it that you and I have exactly the same type?”

They both laughed. “I’m honestly not sure which of them would be more insulted by the comparison to each other.”

When they went inside, they found TJ playing with some of Cyrus’s younger cousin’s while Buffy and Jonah were desperately trying to escape a conversation with Aunt Ruthie. They shared a look before heading over to rescue Buffy and Jonah.

* * *

_**Buffy** : A couple’s costume? That’s pretty bold, Kippen _

_ I’m almost proud _

_**TJ:** shut up _

_ … _

_ you don’t think it’s too obvious, do you? _

_**Buffy** : All I know is that Cyrus is really excited _

_ And that he’s willing to face Andi’s wrath for you _

* * *

Andi and Buffy were in the girls’ bathroom trying to get the makeup off of their faces. “Hey, thanks for getting Marty to do the costume with us.”

“You already thanked us, Andi.”

“I know. It’s just. I don’t think I could’ve handled one more thing going wrong today.”

“Is this just about Jonah, or did something else happen?” Andi was glad they were both looking in the mirror, focusing on their makeup, because she was pretty sure if she looked Buffy in the eye right now, she would start crying.

She nodded. “Yeah, something happened. But I don’t think I wanna talk about it just yet. I’m sorry. I’m just still processing it. I’ll tell you later though.”

Buffy nodded. “Ok. Whenever you’re ready.” Andi could practically feel the amount of effort it took Buffy not to question her further, and she was incredibly grateful for it. “You know I’m always here for you, right?”

Andi nodded again. “Yeah, I know.” She threw her makeup wipe away, and decided her face was sufficiently clean, despite there still being a few grey spots that she couldn’t be bothered to care more about. She looked at Buffy. “Ready?”

Buffy tossed her makeup wipe into the trashcan and nodded. She held out her arm and Andi took it, the two of them walking out of the bathroom together. To their surprise, Cyrus and Marty were already there waiting for them, their faces completely empty of gray makeup.

Buffy pointed at their faces. “How did you-”

Marty smirked. “A magician never reveals his secrets.” Buffy rolled her eyes. He was completely unfazed. “Now, I believe I was promised food in exchange for my services?”

Buffy nodded. “I remember.” She looked at Andi and Cyrus. “Do you two wanna come to The Spoon with us?”

Andi answered, “I’m not really in the mood for baby taters today.”

“Me neither,” Cyrus said, with a small smile that they both saw right through. They noticed him staring at something behind them and turned to see TJ and Kira standing together on the other side of the hallway. They turned back to him with sad smiles.

“Do you need me to kill him for you?” Buffy asked.

Cyrus shook his head. “I appreciate the thought, but please don’t.”

Buffy nodded. “Ok, well, I’m here if you need to talk.”

He nodded, and the three of them shared a short group hug. Andi watched as Buffy and Marty walked off for their date. Ok, Andi knew it wasn’t  _ technically _ a date, but she couldn’t help but think of it like that.

She looked back at Cyrus. “Are you ok?”

“Hey, that’s my line.” Andi just raised her eyebrow at him, and he sighed. “Not really, but I will be. I hope.”

She nodded. “Same. But I really don’t want to go home right now.”

“You wanna have a sleepover at my house? I’m at my dad’s this week.”

“That sounds perfect.” The linked arms and started walking out of the school together. “Can we stop and get ice cream on the way? Preferably something with a lot of chocolate.”

He smiled. “Oh, that was a given.”

On the way to Cyrus’s house, they stopped and bought a pint of the chocolatiest ice cream they could find. It was nearly gone by the time they got home. They watched cheesy movies, and Sharon ordered them a pizza. They tried to make cookies, but they forgot to turn the oven on and got impatient, so they just ate it raw. Sharon gave them disapproving looks but didn’t say anything. And no one mentioned Buffy or Marty or TJ or Kira or Andi’s parents or costume day once. It was exactly what they both needed.

* * *

_**Buffy:** What the hell, Kippen? _

_ I thought you liked Cyrus _

_ And Kira???? Of all people???? _

Read 5:17 pm

* * *

Buffy felt more than saw Cyrus come up to her and give a pointed look at Marty who was dancing on the other side of the room. She nodded. “I see.”

“Things still weird between you two?”

She gave him a confused look. “Why would things be weird between us?”

“You mean after he broke up with his girlfriend because of you? I can’t imagine why that would make things weird.”

“They didn’t break up because of me.” He gave her a look. “Ok, maybe it was a little bit because of me. But Rachel was just being paranoid. Marty doesn’t actually like me anymore.”

“What makes you think that?”

“He told me.”

Cyrus looked over at Marty and then back at Buffy. “I still don’t think it’s true.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. She was about to tell him exactly why she didn’t care whether or not it was true, but just then, TJ walked into the party. With Kira. Buffy did her best to reassure Cyrus that TJ didn’t like Kira, but it went about as well as her attempts to convince him that she didn’t like Marty. It didn’t help that she couldn’t exactly tell him  _ how _ she knew that TJ didn’t like Kira. Eventually, Cyrus decided that he didn’t want to talk about boys anymore, so the two of them joined their friends on the dance floor.

A while later, Buffy found herself standing at the food table, and if she was watching Andi dance with Amber, well, nobody else needed to know.

“Whatcha starin at?” She looked over and saw Marty smiling at her. From his expression, she was pretty sure he knew exactly what she was staring at.

“Do I know you?”

He smirked at her. “Oh sorry. I was looking for my friend Buffy. If you see her, could you tell her to stop being a coward and go ask out her crush already?”

She hit him on the arm. He just laughed. “Am I really that obvious?”

He looked over at Andi and then back at her. He shrugged. “Probably not to the untrained, heteronormative eye, but I know you. And being raised by lesbians helps, I think.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well then, tell me  _ oh wise one _ ,” she said sarcastically, “Do you think Andi’s a lesbian?”

He looked over at Andi again. “No,” he said casually. Buffy tried to hide her disappointment as he looked back at her. “I think she’s pan.”

“Wait, what? How do you know that? And what does that mean?” 

“She’s literally been wearing a bracelet with the pan colors on it this whole time.” She looked over at the bracelet Andi was wearing. She vaguely remembered Andi saying something about just liking the color combination when Buffy had asked her about it weeks ago. Had she really been wearing a pride flag this whole time without Buffy even realizing. She remembered that Andi had given Cyrus a rainbow bracelet at around the same time. Did he know? “And it means you have chance, Driscoll.” She looked back at him to see that he had a soft, serious expression that she had never seen before on his face.

She thought about the lingering looks and touches she had shared with Andi the past few weeks. She thought about how Andi hadn’t seemed as excited as she used to when she teased Buffy about liking Marty. How Andi had always seemed uncomfortable with her dating Walker, and maybe that hadn’t really been about Walker. She looked over at Andi again. She nodded at Marty and started to walk over to Andi. After all, she was supposed to be the confident one.

By the time she made it over to Andi though, the music cut out, and she looked up at the stage to see TJ of all people standing in front of the piano. She had to see what that was about.

After the song was over and normal party activities had resumed, Buffy tried to finally talk to Andi. After all, if TJ could get up there and play such an iconic gay anthem in front of everybody, maybe she could tell Andi that she likes her. Maybe. If she could find her. She looked all around the room, but she didn’t see her anywhere. She made eye contact with Marty from across the room, and he looked between her and the door leading outside pointedly. She nodded at him. He gave her a thumbs up. She smiled and shook her head fondly before heading out to find Andi.

She was about to open the door when she looked out the window and saw that Andi wasn’t alone. Normally, she wouldn’t think twice before interrupting Andi and Jonah, but they looked like they were deep in conversation. And then she saw Andi putting a bracelet on Jonah. Not just any bracelet. The Bracelet. The one that had caused so many problems for the couple. The one that Jonah had supposedly lost at frisbee camp. The one that Andi had said was like some kind of totem for their relationship.

Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe. She took a step back. She turned and ran back into the main room. She practically ran right into Cyrus. She managed to stop them both from falling. He looked concerned when he saw her face. “Are you ok?”

She nodded and forced a smile. “Of course. I’m fine.”

He gave her a look. She knew he didn’t believe her for a second. He lead her to a less crowded area of the room. “Did something happen with Marty?”

She sighed and had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. “Why would you assume it has something to do with Marty?”

He seemed confused. “Because you like him? And you were just complaining earlier about how you didn’t think he liked you back.”

“I wasn’t  _ complaining _ . I was stating a fact. And I don’t like him. I never have.”

“Then what-”

“Cyrus, I like Andi.”

His eyes went went. “What?!” She looked around to make sure no one had heard his outburst. “Sorry. I just- What?”

“I’m not going to say it again.”

“Right. Sorry. Wait, so what does that have to do with why you’re upset?”

“I saw her with Jonah just now. I think they were getting back together.”

He looked confused. “That doesn’t make any sense. If Andi liked Jonah, she would’ve told us.”

“Cyrus, she was giving him the bracelet. You know,  _ the _ bracelet.”

“But I thought he lost that?”

“So did I. But I guess it’s back.”

“But that doesn’t mean they’re getting back together. Andi makes her friends bracelets all the time.” He held up his wrist. “See?”

She shook her head. “That bracelet is different and you know it.”

He shook his head. He looked behind her, and she turned to see Andi and Jonah coming inside before going their separate ways. They didn’t exactly  _ look _ like a couple, but had they ever really? “I’m going to go ask her.”

She looked back at Cyrus. “Wait no, Cyrus!” But he was already gone.

She put her face in her hands and groaned.

“I take it things didn’t exactly go as planned?”

She looked up and saw Marty standing where Cyrus had just been. “You could say that. I didn’t even get a chance to tell her.”

“You will.”

“Even if she does like girls, that doesn’t mean she likes me.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t see why anyone would,” he joked, smiling like an idiot.

She rolled her eyes. “You liked me,” she pointed out.

“I never said I had good taste. I mean, I also dated Rachel.” She laughed. Marty nodded behind her, and she turned to see Andi walking in their direction. “Breathe,” he whispered. She nodded, taking a deep breath and smiling as Andi approached.

Andi smiled at her. She looked almost as nervous as Buffy felt. “Can I borrow Buffy for a second?” she asked Marty.

He nodded. “Yeah, I gotta go anyway. My mom just texted me that she’s here to pick me up.” Buffy was pretty sure she hadn’t seen Marty check his phone, but the party was starting to die down a bit. “I’ll talk to you later?” She nodded. He hugged her. Buffy was pretty sure she noticed Andi glance away from them. “Don’t be a coward, Driscoll. You got this,” He whispered before he let go. She waved to him, and he walked away. He didn’t look back.

She turned to Andi. “You wanted to talk to me?”

Andi nodded. “Do you think we could go somewhere more private?”

Buffy nodded and let Andi lead her upstairs to her old room. They sat on the bed in an awkward silence for a moment. “So…”

Andi took a deep breath. “So, what’s up with you and Marty?”

“You brought me all the way up here to ask about Marty?” It took all of Buffy’s self-control to fight the instinct to roll her eyes. She was getting so tired of her friends assuming that she liked Marty. “I don’t like him. Not like that anyway. I know everyone thinks I do, but I don’t. I never have.”

“Oh.”

There was more silence. “What about you and Jonah?”

Andi seemed confused. “What about me and Jonah?”

Buffy shrugged. “I saw you two go outside alone earlier. It seemed important.”

“Oh. He uh, he found the bracelet I made him. He wanted to ask if he could keep it.”

“Oh. So, what did the bracelet mean this time?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said that bracelet like spoke to you before when you gave it to Jonah and he gave it back and all that drama. What did it say this time?”

“That Jonah and I are really good friends.”

“Oh. So the bracelet is strictly platonic now, then?’

Andi nodded. “Yep.” She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. “But this one isn’t. Or at least I hope it isn’t.” She nervously opened her palm and held out a beautiful, purple bracelet.

Buffy could feel her heart in her throat. She looked up at Andi. She thought she knew what Andi was implying, but she needed to make sure.

Andi looked up at her and nodded. “I made it for you. I like you. And not just as a friend.”

Buffy felt her eyes widen. She didn’t know what to say. She held Andi’s free hand. “I like you, too.” She smiled and let out a breath she didn’t realise she had been holding.

Andi smiled back at her. “Can I?” She gestured with the bracelet. Buffy just nodded and let Andi put the bracelet on her. As she watched her, she decided she was never going to take the bracelet off. Andi hugged her, and Buffy never wanted to let go. But, of course, they had to eventually. But that was ok. They had all the time in the world to hug each other. It’s not like either of them were going anywhere.

They walked down the stairs together holding hands. The music had been turned down and pretty much everyone had left by that point. As they got to the bottom of the stairs, they saw Cyrus come in the front door. Not noticing them, he leaned against the door with his eyes closed and sighed happily. Andi and Buffy looked at each other and giggled.

He opened his eyes, his face turning slightly pink. Then, noticing their hands, he smirked at them and raised an eyebrow.

“Later,” Andi promised him. “Come on.” She took his hand as well, leading him, along with Jonah and her parents, into the backyard.

* * *

“Tomorrow? At The Spoon?”

Cyrus smiled, stepping forward to hug Andi. “Later, tater.” She sighed as he walked away.

Jonah stepped up to hug her next. “Love you, Andiman.”

Finally, Andi and Buffy were alone again. Buffy stepped up to her and held both of her hands. She gave Andi a sad smile. “I can’t believe we won’t be going to the same school next year.”

“I know. But we still have a few months until then. We’ll be ok. We always are.”

Buffy nodded and pulled her into a hug. Even though they both knew they’d see each other the next day, they held onto each other tightly, like they were afraid to let go. Buffy wasn’t sure how much time passed before they finally did. They squeezed each other’s hands one last time before Buffy left. Andi watched Buffy walk away. Right before walking into the house, Buffy looked back at her and smiled. Andi smiled back.

Andi went into the now empty Andi Shack and hung up the two pictures of the Good Hair Crew, right next to each other. She looked around at the otherwise blank walls of the Shack and thought about all the possibilities for what she could do with it now

As she walked back into the house to help her parents clean up, she felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket and smiled as she read the messages.

_**Buffy:** so tomorrow _

_ after the spoon _

_ do you wanna maybe hang out? _

_ just the two of us? _

_**Andi** : like a date? _

_**Buffy:** yeah _

_ like a date _

_**Andi** : i’d love to 💖 _

_**Buffy** : 💖 _


End file.
